


The dance of the fireflies

by TCbook



Series: Entomology [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Bottom Hannibal Lecter, Bottom Will Graham, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, M/M, Murder Husbands, Police Officer Will Graham, Surgeon Hannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 03:14:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21313255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TCbook/pseuds/TCbook
Summary: Second part of the Entomology SeriesWill and Hannibal move together but life keeps knocking at their door, Will is trying to understand his true self but, will Hannibal accept that hidden part of his soul?
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Series: Entomology [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1113405
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64





	The dance of the fireflies

**Author's Note:**

> For a better understanding read the first part of this story "And the cicada sang"   
Many thanks to my friend @HotMolasses for being my beta
> 
> I hope you like it

The two fireflies danced together. It was a dance older than time, with a song that no one taught them. They just knew when they had found their equal, and saw the matching radiance in the other.

Moving in together was after all, the easy part.   
After years of waiting, texting, and letters, short trips to see eachother during holidays, uncertainty, and long distance love, they reunited in a hug and a kiss that left everyone around them in the airport gasping. 

Then they went to college. Will went for Criminal Justice before entering the Police Academy and Hannibal started studying medicine. Luckily the academy and the medicine dorms were close enough to sneak out and see each other during those years.

Seven years later they found themselves carrying their bags and the multiple crates of stuff Hannibal brought from Europe to start their home together.

“It’s been twelve years and our journal is still in one piece. I’ll buy this brand more often.” Will joked, watching Hannibal thumb the worn-out pages of their insect diary. Hannibal treasured the beloved object more than any other possession he had.

“I’ve been taking care of it. I’m not sure if it would have survived your hands, Detective Graham.”

“Oh, Dr. Lecter, I always take care of my beloved… possessions.” They kissed between the cardboard boxes and covered furniture, Will completely forgetting about the shelf he was putting together. They were together, they were in the place they could call home.

Often, Will’s shift would line up with Hannibal’s in the emergency room at the hospital. They saw each other during working hours frequently, since Will had to take suspects there when they got injured in the process of catching them.

“Hello, Doctor Lecter.” Will said, bringing two paper cups of coffee and whole grain muffins inside the break room of the ER. Hannibal rested on an uncomfortable looking cot like a scrubs-dressed statue, his neck at a weird angle and the points of his teeth showing between his sleep-parted lips.  
Will shook the crinkly bag and took his hat off. He drove across the whole city to get Hannibal’s favorite coffee from the only place that had freshly ground grains all night.

“Soon to be Doctor Lecter-Graham, detective.” Hannibal murmured, one hand swiping over his stubble, shaking the sleep from his eyes. With a smile he sat up, making room for Will to sit beside him.

Will was greeted with a quick peck, the scent of latex gloves and sterilizing agents wafting to him from the scrubs-clad doctor.

“I’m not sure if you are more happy for the freshly ground coffee at four am or for me to be here.” Will teased giving Hannibal a little hand squeeze while watching him drink a long pull from his paper cup.

“I’m happy to see you, milymasis, but after two car accidents and one five-hour emergency surgery, coffee is more than appealing at this ungodly hour of the morning.” Hannibal teased back, leaning over Will while taking a bite of his muffin. The night shift was wearing them down, but it helped them to find time to plan their wedding and finish the last renovations Hannibal had planned for the house; the new basement furniture, kitchen and cellar, the little shed behind the house for Will to work with his lures and repairs, and the flowers for the garden. It also gave them time to plan their honeymoon.

Will smiled at how smoothly everything was going, how sweetly Hannibal smiled with every improvement inside the house, how easy their life together was.

Until Garret Jacob Hobbs.

This was Will’s first big case, the first that made him obsess over a nameless killer for months. Girls were being abducted and two were found dead after having been missing for days. The man behind it was playing with Will’s mind and it didn’t help matters when he got shot in the shoulder by the suspect the first time Will thought he had trapped him... but no pain could compare to losing months of investigative work when the killer escaped while Will bled out on the floor. 

Hannibal was concerned. Will could feel it every time he woke up soaking in his own sweat and gasping for air in their bed, being cuddled calmly and reassuringly. Every time he felt like breaking into pieces in his lover’s arms, the ache of his shoulder reminding him of the task he had not completed, like comedon worm chewing his brains days after day. Will could not stop until he caught the killer; it was a specimen he had to collect and dissect like any other insect he didn’t know.

Will found Hobbs after months of restless nights and migraines, months of postponing the wedding, months of turning into a creature that Hannibal saw metamorphose like a Harvester butterfly. The killer fought Will when they were trapped inside the antler-filled cabin, Hobbs tried to cut his own throat before Will could shoot him, and Will ran to the killer to stop the bleeding while the backup arrived. The man was apprehended and taken to the hospital so he could be treated. Hannibal was on duty in the ER that night, and he operated on Hobbs until he was stable enough to survive.

“You don’t look as happy I thought you would be after catching him, Will.” Hannibal said, watching Will loom inside the recovery room where Hobbs was sleeping after the surgery. Will watched the man with an angry stare like a fire ant had just bit him.

“This is not… what I wanted.” Will confessed, in his mind replaying the scene over and over again, killing Garret Jacob Hobbs in different scenarios, pressing him to the antler-covered walls of the cabin until they pierced his flesh, shooting until his barrel was empty, all of them impossible since the man in front of him was unconscious and barely alive, or so they thought.

Will finally directed his eyes to his fiance, his anger and frustration contrasting with the soft smile Hannibal was giving him, understanding the feeling of having the man there still alive, still in one piece while Will felt like someone had plucked his wings.

In less than a second Will felt the ruffle of sheets, and saw the man in the bed stand up and launch himself at Hannibal, who was standing with his back to him.

Will saw the man reach for Hannibal’s neck and his hand automatically reached for his holster.

“Down!” Will howled.

Hannibal threw himself to the ground as soon he saw the gun. Will pointed and fired all the bullets he had, the bullets he was dreaming of.

Hobbs fell with a thud. Fourteen bullets pierced his body, sprawled against the white wall. Will stood on guard, blindly reaching for another magazine of bullets, eyes trained on the man, waiting for the body to stand up and keep fighting.

Will was panting, hands shaking with adrenaline, his blood rushing and his pupils blown for a split second, enjoying the puddle of blood oozing from the body.

“Will…” He heard, a soft voice taking him back to many years ago when he heard that accented low tone for the first time in the middle of a forest.

Hannibal was almost lying on the floor, his face and hands splattered with blood while his scrubs slowly soaked up the blood pooling in the floor, the red shining under the fluorescent light.

Will felt Hannibal’s hand reaching for his, slowly coercing his fingers from the trigger and taking the gun from his shaking hands. They heard the rukus of the officers and security guards coming towards the sound of the bullets, but Will’s world narrowed to the sole existence of the body of the man who gave him nightmares and the man that took him out of them between his arms every night.

Will dropped to his knees and went to the voice that was calling him, hugging Hannibal, smearing the blood on their faces, checking if he was alright.

“Are you ok? Hannibal! Are you ok?!” Will asked frantic, the buzzing from the lights making his head swim.

“Yes, Will, yes. I am. I’m ok. Love, come back to me.” Hannibal answered, cupping Will’s face with his large, bloodied hands. Will’s eyes moved rapidly, checking everything and seeing nothing.

“He didn’t hurt you, he didn’t.” Will repeated between sobs. 

They stayed on the ground until the other officers around them secured the area. A whole new investigation would be opened, but with Hannibal as his witness and the recording from the security cameras, there would be enough proof to confirm that he massacred the man to defend the doctor. After a quick conversation with the detective assigned to the case, they went home with not more than a few protocol questions.

Will watched Hannibal lovingly clean his hands and face after the police crew took the samples for the investigation. Will’s colleagues gave him little sad smiles, remenisent of how the kids at school used to look at him. Nothing changes so much after all, he thought, until the truth hatches, and flies to feast upon those who had mocked him until they fell.

Specs of blood still freckled their faces while they drove home, both of them wearing clean hospital scrubs after their clothes were taken to forensics. Will padded behind Hannibal to their door, too many feelings happening inside his chest to concentrate on one at a time. They dissolved into a sea of static, and he dissociated for a long moment, until he found himself in their bed, his hair damp after a shower, his eyes prickling with unshed tears.

“Hannibal?” Will’s voice came out ragged, like he had screamed until his throat tore.

“I’m here.” Hannibal moved behind him, pressing his body solid against his back.

“Are you good?”

“I should be the one asking you that. You are still in shock.” Hannibal swept some lose strands of hair from his forehead.

“Are you good?” Will repeated.

“The blood all washed off in the shower.”

“Good, that’s good.”

“Will, can… can you tell me who you are and where are we?”

“My name is Will Graham, we are in our bed, in our house at Greenway street, Baltimore.”

“Very good. I’m here with you.” Hannibal said, letting out a relieved sigh, his bowed lips pressing against the uncovered part of Will’s shoulder.

“If he had…” Will trailed off, his tears striking his cheeks.

“But he didn’t. You didn’t let him.”

“I would have…” Will started to snarl, the hungry thing that hatched and flew inside his heart gnawing at his ribs.

“You did, my love.”

Will gasped, the sound of the body hitting the ground after the roar of his bullets, the face of the man slowly losing his life and light until Will only could see Hannibal’s eyes.

Will turned to face Hannibal, wearing the same soft pajamas he was using that morning, looking at him with devotion.

“Something is wrong with me.” Will’s voice wasn’t more than a whisper over Hannibal’s neck.

Will felt how Hannibal’s hands enveloped him in a tight embrace, rocking him softly side to side.

“You are unique, mylimasis. That’s why you feel alone, but you are not. I’m here with you.” Will felt the soft-spoken words like salve on a wound, his breaths growing even, and his tears waning.

“I could not stop thinking about the girls, I could not stop thinking about the scenes. In the end he was nothing more than a maggot. A parasite, lacking of beauty and… it felt so good…” Will’s voice broke again in a sob, his heart feeling raw with the truth and hurt by hearing himself say it.

Will felt the warm press of lips on his forehead, then his cheeks, then a little peck on his lips. Hannibal’s hands guided him to nest his head in the crook of his neck.

“You caught him. You saw him, and knew without even opening his body how ugly the innards of his shell were, just by looking at him. You saved my life, and many more. You eliminated the pest that was rotting out lives and the world. I’ve been proud of your catch from the very second I saw you enter my emergency room with good news and bloodied hands.”

“I’m scared-” Will whispered, opening his eyes, suddenly feeling like no more than the little boy that liked to talk to himself and walk alone through the forest.

“He can’t come back Will, and if someone tries to-”

“I’m scared because it felt good.” Will’s voice came out serious and dark, his breath softly brushing the patch of uncovered chest in the v of Hannibal’s shirt. “I feel like I’m becoming something… something you won’t like.”

“Well, I’m the one who is the judge of that, my love. And right now I feel immensely proud.”

Will felt Hannibal trace the lines of his neck and back, then his shoulders and down his arms, until he took both of his hands and kissed them with reverence. “I owe you awe.”

Will smiled and let himself be dragged into Hannibal’s embrace under the covers, sweet words of praise being softly kissed into his neck and exposed collarbone. Hannibal’s hands slowly lifted his pajama shirt to uncover Will’s chest, letting it fall rumpled on the floor, quickly followed by Hannibal’s own.  
Hannibal let foreign words of love wash over Will while he kissed the soft planes of his chest, nuzzling the stray hairs that grew there, enjoying the little sounds Will made to encourage him for more, to suck his nipples and bite them lovingly until he moaned.

“More, oh love, more.” Will whined, bringing Hannibal into a feverent kiss with teeth and tongues, savoring and devouring all they could. Legs tangled and tongues chased eachother’s taste, parting for mere seconds to catch their breath before returning. Hannibal pressed the tent in his pants hard against the one in Will’s, making him moan and seek out his lovers neck. He sucked a bruise and pressed his teeth to the skin until Hannibal growled, knowing he would be wearing that bruise for the next couple of days.

“My scrubs are not going to cover that.” 

“I want everyone to know that I’ve got teeth.” Will said, wearing a wolfish grin.

Hannibal pushed Will against the pillows, covering the hot path of lust running from head to toe. All fear was gone from Will’s eyes as the predator that the uniform hid was uncovered, making Hannibal ravenous. They kissed and rocked against eachother, hands caressing and pulling closer between Will’s legs. Hannibal held him, grabbing the firm meat of his butt to bring him closer under him, a hand sneaking inside the back of his pants to part Will and caress his hole. A shared moan broke the kiss that kept the house in silence, Will’s hands pawing at their pajama bottoms to free the straining pressure of their erections while he pressed against the two fingers massaging him in ticklish circles.

“Oh my love, what have I done to deserve you with claws and wings?” Hannibal said, kicking their pants away and drawing Will closer.

“Being a creepy bug boy like me.” Will smiled, letting his legs fall open, baring himself completely for Hannibal to drink him in.

Hannibal reached for the bottle of lube on his nightstand, quickly slicking his hands and slapping one of them across Will’s butthole, making him hiss before resuming the massage in slick, soothing circles. One digit barely breached the muscle with every swipe, carefully adding more pressure. Hannibal looked at Will, mouth quirked in a smiling snarl, the second hand closing over Will’s shaft in soft strokes before Hannibal bent down and took Will’s whole wet cockhead inside his mouth.

“Ah-aah!” Will whined, opening his legs further and raising his hips to give Hannibal more access.

Hannibal hummed, lips tightly wrapped around Will’s cock while he sucked and lapped at the spurts of precome, two slicked fingers already inside Will, stretching him hastily.  
When the third finger was in Hannibal let Will’s cock slip from his mouth, kissing the shaft and the little drops it left on Will’s belly, crossing over his chest until their lips met again.

“Hannibal please, please i need to-”

“I’m here, i’m here with you, feel me.” Hannibal replied, leaning for a hungry and reassuring kiss. His fingers left Will’s body to hold his own cock and slowly thrust it inside Will's hole.

“Yess, yes more-” Will hissed, brows frowning and teeth showing in a sated smile. 

Hannibal pushed slowly until their bodies slotted together in a tight fit, with quivering muscles and ragged breaths. Will's legs rested over Hannibal's shoulders, his own cock dripping onto his belly. 

“I love you, Will, in your unstoppable ferocity.” Hannibal said, breathing Will in, drinking in the sight of those blue eyes framed by curls and blush looking back at him with hunger. 

“I love you, I love you!” Will replied with half a shout when Hannibal started to move, hips joining hips, skin slapping with the quickening ramming Hannibal gave him in the midst of feelings, passion and murder. 

“We are going to devour the world, mylimasis.”

“We are, we- we are- faster, Hannibal.”

Hannibal bit Will's neck, teeth leaving indenting marks on the soft, reddening skin, sucking marks over his pulse point with every thrust in. One of his hands rubbed and stroked Will’s cock as soon as the rhythm became quick and hard, when the molten heat in his innards started to boil and bubble. Hannibal’s hips slapped harder each time, their moans turning into deep sounds like a mating call that kept both of them going. Will let his mouth go lax and let the moans flow before sinking his teeth into the meat of Hannibal’s shoulder. The hand on his cock squeezed the head, hard, then moved back to the root in a quick, strong motion that drove him over the edge. His orgasm echoed inside their house, harmonizing with the backrest of the bed slamming against the wall with the strong unstoppable thrusts of the man atop of him. Hannibal’s cock was tightly nested inside Will, hot velvet caressing every inch, a pleasurable weight rubbing and pressing against the sweet point that was making Will’s cock leak and his voice tremble.

“Oh god-yes ah aaah!” Will managed to say.

Thick spurts of come covered Will’s chest and belly, muscles spasming and clenching around Hannibal, letting him feel the wave of the orgasm run across his spine. Will’s back curved, his hands reaching for Hannibal who kissed him quiet before letting his own orgasm tear from him with the strong and rhythmic squeezing of Will’s ass, mouth forming a silent scream before stuttering a moan, cum coating his insides and being pushed in as far as Hannibal could with his last erratic thrusts.

Will panted under Hannibal, his legs falling to the sides, letting Hannibal nuzzle and kiss his sweaty neck before pulling out and looking at him with pure satisfaction and pride at the mess he had made of Will. Cum covered him from chest to hole, bruises and bites covering his neck and under his collarbone, almost mirroring Hannibal’s.

“Thank you.” Will said, almost whispering, an easy smile stretching his lips with the afterglow while Hannibal finished cleaning their skin with a warm, damp towel.

“For loving you? For falling in love with you each day?” Hannibal said, curling beside Will, letting his head rest on Will’s chest.

“For understanding me. For finding me interesting.”

“I see you, my love, and what I see? Its beautiful.” Hannibal said, hearing how Will’s heart thumped before letting the air he had been holding out, both falling asleep again with ease.

**

The investigation of the shooting at the hospital gave both Will and Hannibal days of leave to recover. The witnesses and security recordings set Will free of charges and left no doubt about the self defense, even if he had emptied his gun inside the carcass of Garret Jacob Hobbs.

Hannibal treated Will’s mental health with care, agreeing with Will’s boss to get him into therapy after the attack. Will was transferred back to the academy and was put on teaching duty while the paperwork was done. He agreed to go to one of Hannibal’s older colleagues, a woman who with a glass of wine and the deadly charm of a praying mantis could read more from him than he wanted.

“How can you be his friend and his therapist at the same time?” Will asked, warming the red wine in his glass with his hands.

“You two are so different, yet so identical,” she sighed, like he was a lost case. “You woke and ate at the sight of your victory, you saw your enemy depart and your lover alive beside you. But, Mr. Graham, could you daily feel a stab of hunger for him? Find nourishment in his very sight every day? Can you see why you reluctantly push away the truth of yourself?”

“Yes. But would he see through what happened?” Will asked, looking at her, the fear of that evening clenching his heart.

“This is about you Will. Do you ache for him?”

“I would lie if I said I didn’t. I did for years, and I did when I feared I would lose him.”

“You understand that you killed a man.”

“I would kill thousands of them just to see him smile one more day.” Will smiled around the rim of his own glass of wine, the woman in front of him acknowledging his words just with a long drag of her own.

“I believe you, Mr Graham. You both are dangerous creatures that found peace with each other.” She murmured into her glass before finishing it.

**  
The wedding details were almost completely settled. Their honeymoon in Florence was booked and they only had to wait three more weeks for the small ceremony they had been postponing for months.

Will’s restless nights were almost over. Hannibal encouraged him to talk about cases he reviewed in his classes, to let free the minds of those killers he hosted inside his head, comforted by the grounding words of his soon-to-be-husband.

“A man came looking for you today.” Hannibal told him while they cooked dinner.

“From work? Classes will restart soon.”

“From the FBI. His name was Jack Crawford. I left his card in the rolodex. Very stern man, you would hate him.” Hannibal chuckled.

Will’s hands shook for a second, almost dropping the boning knife he was using to open a flounder.

“What does the FBI want with me?” Will said, resuming his task, thinly cutting the fillets for carpaccio.

“He said he wanted to borrow your mind. The rumors about you thinking like the Minnesota Shrike in order to catch him have spread quickly.” Hannibal almost purred the words, making Will look at him over the counter. Hannibal had seen him talking about the scenes, about the murders at Hobbs’ hands. He had seen how easily Will let the murderer occupy his mind. “I’m not the only one interested in you, mylimasis, but I’m the only one with… privileges. Frederick Chilton also called again about an interview.”

“Oh, that creepy man. I’m sure he’s trying to find his own darkness by projecting it onto me. About the FBI… I-I’m not sure if I could do that. Hobbs’ case almost drove me nuts and I don’t want to put you under that stress again, Hannibal. What if...”

“I can help you. We can consult together. If it's too much, I can open a private practice and you can go back to teaching. At least until they give you permission to take your gun back and get back into the field.” 

“If your dear friend Bedelia had signed my release from therapy three weeks ago, I would be in the field again and not trapped inside a classroom.”

“Ah, don’t call those conversations therapy, she just tries to help.” Hannibal turned from his space in front of the stove to hold Will’s hips from behind, the tip of his nose drawing a line on Will’s neck while he smelled the faint scent of sweat and his aftershave warming on his skin.

“She said that we are dangerous and that we find comfort in eachother’s threat.” Will purred, moving to leave a kiss on Hannibal’s temple.

“We are dangerous men, my love. I hold the life of my patients in my hands every day, and as I hold it I also have the power of taking it away with just a nick of the right vein. My job promises to keep them alive, yours to keep them safe, but those are just promises.”

“I feel safe with you. I’ve felt safe since you let me in through the gates of your old house.”

“And you made me feel safe when I thought no place on earth would be free of the look of the men that took my family. You whispered through my chrysalis, and here we are.” Hannibal said softly, remembering his family before leaning for a heart-healing kiss.

**

As Hannibal had said, Will didn’t quite like Jack Crawford. The man appeared in his classroom after the last lecture with no intention of leaving without yes as an answer. Will agreed to the deal after hearing how his gift would help people to survive, but he also wanted to survive himself. He told Jack that having Hannibal with him during the consulting hours would help, and Mr. Crawford agreed, so the deal was set.

There were creative killers running loose in Maryland. Many twisted minds, making angels and totems, family killers and artists, all puzzles that left Will breathless after days of chasing.

“I don’t like Jack Crawford.” Will said in the dark of their bedroom, face up and unmoving, his voice hard and determined. They had visited Beth Le Beau’s house that morning. The young girl was murdered, mutilated under her bed, but the killer was not really seeing her, just like Jack couldn’t see what the killers really were.

“That’s the third time you’ve said that this week Will. We can quit whenever you want…” Will felt Hannibal shift on the bed, his body heat feeling close and welcoming. Large hands patted his chest over the covers, crawling like a large cat in the dark. Hannibal’s lips found his and coaxed him to relax and open the kiss.

“Not yet, we can’t just stop right now… what did you think about this morning?” Will said, combing his fingers in Hannibal’s hair, his head propped over his sternum.

“Lacking finesse. There’s not a real motive behind this death. The poor girl didn’t deserve this. It was savage.” Hannibal murmured, chasing Will’s scent through his sleeping shirt. Something felt odd to Will. The smell of blood stuck in his palate since that morning like it had followed him home.

“It wasn’t savage, it was lonely...” Will shifted to bring Hannibal to him.

“Cotard’s syndrome could be the reason. They said the skin that was found at the scene was from the killer. It matches the symptoms, the killer could be sick.”

“The killer is a girl, the same age as the victim. They were classmates.”

“She ran to someone she felt close to.”

Will moved to hold Hannibal closer, hips grinding and breaths quickening. One creak of the floorboard stilled both men on the bed, the sound of a weight shifting on the bare floor under them.

Hannibal jumped to his side of the bed, Will rolling with him. The doctor threw himself under the bed blindly grabbing their intruder. Will slapped one of the lights on to see his fiance wrestling half under their bed, strong arms flexing and aiming to break bones, to kill to protect their sacred space and to protect him. Will dialed nine one one on his phone while he pushed their bed away, uncovering their intruder.

“Agent Will Graham I need back up at my home!”

They saw the face of the girl under the bed, distorted features and grey skin, bloodshot eyes looking at them. She trembled and twitched like a scared animal, peering at them in the dim light coming from the street.

Hannibal let go of the girl as soon as he saw it was her, pieces of shedding, sticky skin clinging to his hands, no blood spilling from her wounds and not a word from her mouth.

Will breathed. The girl looked at him with the uncertainty of a stray dog.

“We’ve got a guest.” Hannibal said, showing his hands for Will to see.

“It’s her.” Will lowered to the ground, in order to look at her at the same level. “Georgia… how did you get in here?”

“You can see me I… I am alive?” A small, unused voice answered, bloodshot eyes looking at both of them as she crouched mere feet away.

“Georgia, it’s midnight. We are in Baltimore Maryland. This is our house.” Hannibal told her.

They calmed her by telling her the truth, until they made her believe she was alive. Minutes later the ambulance and the police arrived with Jack.

“This is getting dangerous, Jack. This job shouldn’t follow us home.” Hannibal said, still in his pajamas with a blanket covering his shoulders as he watched the EMTs leave through his front door.

“I know, Dr Lecter. But you and Will handled it…”

“Next time we might not be this nice, Jack. We could have killed her…”

“Hannibal, let's go back to sleep, good night.” Will hissed, interrupting them, holding the front door open for Hannibal to get in before giving his boss one last glare.

**

The wedding ceremony was around the corner. Suits were hanging with immaculate precision inside their closet, the cake was selected, and the guests were confirmed. Only one week of teaching for Will and hospital hours for Hannibal were separating them from the moment they had been waiting for years. The murders had lowered in number, there was nothing to worry about, no mastermind behind the gruesome scenes Will fed to his students in class until the path of a beast called at his phone, the voice of Jack asking for Will to go to what looked like a carnage made by an animal.

“Dr Lecter, I don’t think I can stop.” Hannibal heard while he gathered the equipment to help his young patient.

“Randall, how did you hurt yourself like this again?”

“Is this ache… Do you know what it's like when the skin you're wearing doesn't fit?”

“Yes, Randall. But if you keep harming yourself like this I will have to refer you to psychiatry.”

“Becoming...this way makes me feel alive, Dr Lecter, makes my blood run in the right way just like you said.”

“I would like to see that Randall. Now stay still.”

Hannibal’s car hummed as he parked in their garage after a long day at the hospital, Will’s car parked alongside, still warm. He was greeted with a hungry kiss after he opened the door that joined the garage with the kitchen, the kiss tasting of the scotch Will favored after a day covered in blood and teared skin. 

“Long day?” Hannibal asked, breaking the kiss. Will latched onto his neck, covering it in kisses while his hands opened Hannibal’s shirt.

“Long day. Those bodies were attacked by a beast, a human beast.” Will breathed, kissing him again, hands grasping skin and clothes with strength.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there with you, you are… ah ravenous.” Hannibal felt Will’s lips suck his skin and kiss his pulse.

“I share his hunger.” Will said, biting the corner of Hannibal’s jaw, pressing their hips hard together before parting, leaving Hannibal half undone, back pressed against the door.

“What are we turning into?” Will asked him, hands rubbing into the meat of his cheeks, stubble crinkling under his palms.

“A married couple.” Hannibal answered with humor, slowly walking to the kitchen island across from Will. Over the table layed a half served plate of cheese and fruits.

“I mean this Hannibal, this need, this compulsion to free the world of…”

“Ugliness. We were always artists my love, studying the little creatures that captured our attention and getting rid of the unwanted pests.”

“But is there a limit? Will we… have a limit?” Hannibal could see the breath coming out of Will, his feelings and ethics mixing and choking the air out of his lungs. 

“I hope not.” Hannibal smiled, one hand reaching for Will’s softly, pressing it to the cool marble.

They shared a smile across the table, Hannibal shedding his half-slid coat from his shoulders and joining Will in front of the fridge to gather wine and the missing delicacies for their plate before going to the living room.

They sat across each other in the living room, sipping wine and eating the plate Will had meant to have ready before Hannibal came home. It was easy, no music in the background, only the sound of the wind shaking the leaves and rattling their windows. They discussed some of the last details for the wedding, Will again making a face at the number of guests that would attend to their union but smiling at the fact that the big day was closer.

Hannibal stilled mid-phrase, eyes turning to the window that showed the dark plane of their back garden, not sure if the wind had changed or if the sound of twigs breaking were warning him about an intruder.

“I heard that.” Will said in a low voice, the pools of his eyes never leaving the pitch black of the window.

A muted roar could be heard inside the house, the breath of a beast that was getting ready to attack. They had to be ready too.

Will moved from the chair to the light switch, leaving Hannibal to do the same with the little tiffany lamp adorning the corner across the room, the only other source of light in their house. The darkness washed over them as they stood there, setting the limits of the arena where a fight was about to take place.

“Hannibal.”

“Don’t worry.”

The big squared window of the living room shattered when the heavy body came in, the shards scattering in a rain of monstrous roars and smoke.

The beast rolled over the coffee table while both of them took different paths inside the house, hiding in the shadows to guide their intruder further inside where nothing could be seen or heard. They could hear the loud purr of the mechanic nature of the beast, running and tossing furniture in its path. Just when the dining room door flew open Hannibal pounced from the pantry, hands reaching towards its powerful jaws, letting Will charge towards its middle, inhuman claws trying to pierce and shred in the dark.

The beast was pinned on top of the dining table, Will’s knees pining its arms while Hannibal held the head still, hands and body working up his strength to twist his neck and detach the dangerous fanged skull. The beast kept roaring, the table groaning under their weight, the metallic clamps whirring without their noticing until the beast rolled off the table and stood up.

Claws dug into Will’s leg, his hiss and shout of pain alerting Hannibal to bite the man under the beast, making him squeal.

“The door!” Will said, and Hannibal opened the door to let the beast fall with Will into the basement, claws scraping the cement floor while they tumbled down. A moment of silence filled the place before Hannibal heard the beast getting up, stumbling upon the bench and worktables in the dark room. Hannibal ran down the stairs before he felt a familiar hand tug him into the corner, a hand that cupped his cheek and lips that let out a little breath of pain numbed with adrenaline. Their eyes meet in the darkness before Will walked away so they could surround the injured beast. It roared in anger before both men tackled it from each side, making it fall. Hannibal grabbed the artificial skull that still hung from the leg of the intruder, still piercing the meat there. He yanked it free, tearing the skin and closing the maws over its neck, a gush of warm blood spraying over them while Will held the dangerous claws with his hands.

And there was silence, nothing else but the whirr of a dying motor and their lungs fighting for air. Hannibal let the coppery smell fill his lungs, such a different place from the one he was accustomed to, wanting to remember the feeling before seeing.

Will stood and found the light switch, his face and hands glistening with red pearls of blood, dark purple splotches decorating his blue shirt, eyes almost black, mouth agape.

Hannibal looked at his hands covered in cuts and blood before looking at the still-eyed body beside him. Randall looked in peace after his last fight.

“Are you hurt?” Will asked him, a blood stained hand helping him to get up.

“Not badly, you? Your leg needs attention.” Hannibal pointed out. Will’s pant leg was damp with his own blood.

“I’ve had worse… it can wait.” Will said, brushing the blood-stiff strands of hair from Hannibal’s forehead, eyes looking for injuries and cuts.

They went upstairs, switching the lights on, swiping shattered glass and scattered furniture across the house with their feet, putting chairs in their place and turning tables. In their bathroom Hannibal filled a basin with warm water, a confident and comfortable silence letting their fibers align and light up with the touch of each other.

“I never saw a display of brutal strength and deadlines so natural. You danced in the dark, like a firefly.”

“Fireflies never dance alone. I’m not alone.” Will said, pressing a kiss to Hannibal’s temple while the man rolled a fresh gauze over his injured hand, before guiding him to sit to tend to his leg.

“I might have sent this boy to his death.” Hannibal said, while sticking paper stitches on Will’s leg.

“You sent him to us? He was your patient?” Will shifted on the bathroom countertop.

“Unintentionally. I told him I wanted to see his becoming… but it turned out that I ended up witnessing ours.” Hannibal saw Will smile at that, after all they were not that different.

“My curious love, let’s clean ourselves, this monster needs to become what he wanted.” Will said, looking him with dark eyes, a small smile stretching his lips with fondness.

Hannibal felt a full body shiver run from head to toe, a nice and warm feeling pooling in his chest and lower. It slowly reached every inch of his skin, spreading at the promise of witnessing once again the brutal nature of Will in his beautiful ferocity, in his truest form, a curious hunter, a fierce beast under a person’s suit.

Will helped Hannibal clean his own scratches, kissing his knuckles and bruised ribs before covering them with gauze with utmost care.

Hannibal and Will started to clean the broken glass covering their living room, vacuuming and covering the open space of the window with a tarp. Their house was far enough from the neighbors for it to go unnoticed. Near midnight they finished scooping the last splinters from the floor, throwing the pieces of evidence into the trash. 

Both stood looking at the trap door that lead to the basement, bloody footmarks marking the stumbling path they made a couple of hours before. They walked down the stairs, silently looking at the body that cooled on their floor, the first signs of rigor mortis stiffening his limbs, a big pool of blood framing the human remains of Randall.

Cleaning and gathering the things was more difficult than breaking into the Natural History Museum. Not even a single camera pointed at the main hall between the entomology room and the paleolithic one. Right between the two of them Will decided to place the display of Randall’s body, his becoming as his true self to be remembered as he felt, displayed amongst the beasts. A glass cube covered his quadrupedal form, an iron bar piercing his middle and keeping him upright, hands turned into claws, face torn between the maws of the animal. The non-displayed parts were piled in front of him as the prey, as the offering for his perpetual hunger.

Hannibal and Will left the building wiping their tracks, sitting on the plastic covered insides of the car with a flushed smile on their faces before going back home, getting rid of their bloodied clothes, torn shirts and ripped pants. The latex gloves and everything that could be taken as evidence was rolled inside the plastic inside their car and burned in their backyard.

The night was still pitch black when they emerged from the bathroom after a shower, fresh bodies hitting the same sheets they used the night before, when everything was identically different.

**  
A couple of hours after the sun rose Hannibal woke up with the coarse brush of Will’s stubble on his uncovered shoulder. The man behind him took a big breath of his morning scent like one would do with coffee. A groan left his lips before he kissed his way to Hannibal’s ear and neck.

“Morning.” Hannibal said, wiggling to press his back to Will’s chest, lazy kisses covering his nape and neck.

“Mmmmhmornin’ love, are you sore? I feel like we had a wild night last night.” Will mumbled against his skin, sleep making his accent bubble to the surface of his lips.

“I can recall the wildest night of our lives mano meilė, my scratches are fine and bruises will heal quickly. I think your leg will need a change of dressings, doctor’s orders.”

“The pain in my leg is just a reminder of the frenzy of last night. You were so beautiful, so strong, so capable of taking a life with your bare hands, I’m so in love with you.” Will rumbled the words under his breath.

“And I with you. You would not believe how happy I am to be the one you are going to marry.” Hannibal felt himself smile.

“If we don’t get caught.” Will whispered.

“You and I know more than better how to hide our tracks. Like a hunter.”

“Like a predator.” Will almost growled, gripping Hannibal’s chin to press a hungry kiss against his lips.

Hannibal felt Will press against his back, bodies fitting between the sheets in the early morning. Will’s cock rubbed and left a trail of slick across his lower back, rutting between his cheeks, one gauze-covered hand coming to grip at his hip without breaking the kiss. An insistent, needy sound came from Will’s throat when Hannibal deepened the arch of his back to let Will rut harder against him.

Hannibal made an effort to detach from Will and blindly looked for the lube, pumping a handful of jelly from the bottle and making quick work of opening himself. He moved his legs to sit above Will’s hips, legs open wide. Their mouths crashed together with more teeth and tongue than lips, taking bites of each other while Hannibal let soft encouraging whimpers come through his lips, crooked teeth shown in a snarl.

Will moaned at the sight, hands petting and caressing the fight-bruised skin until he could grab the the firm muscle of Hannibal’s ass, squeezing and parting him, fingertips feeling the stretch of his rim. His thumb tugged at the soft glistening skin to part him further, the heat of his body inviting, enthralling and welcoming. 

Hannibal let three fingers settle inside himself, quickly opening his digits to stretch and warm his insides, eager, almost desperate to share the intimacy they both craved. Hannibal let his fingers slide out to spread the leftover lube over Will’s cock, the man under him hissing at the contact of his hand. Hannibal stroked him softly, the head of Will’s cock catching on Hannibal’s rim between strokes and ruts, letting Will moan and look at him in the darkness of their room before pressing his hips backwards, slowly letting Will’s cock enter him.

“Oh fuck.” Hannibal let out when Will breached him in a steady push. “Oh god yes.” the doctor said, tilting his hips to increase the pressure on his prostate. 

When Hannibal was seated over Will’s hips, length completely buried inside him, Will let his hands grip Hannibal’s hips, helping him grind and rub on their joining. Hannibal braced himself against Will’s chest, lifting his hips and bending his back in an undulating movement that made both of them lose control.

Will moaned loudly, one hand gripping Hannibal’s hip to move faster, the other clasping his nape to bring him closer, to press to him harder, to seek out his mouth and lick his tongue.

Will held Hannibal tightly by the scruff, hips pistoning up to fuck him harder.

“Hannibal, ah Hannibal, f-fuck keep keep moving.” Will half-managed to say, making the man bouncing above him whimper with half-formed words. Hannibal settled over him, hands crowning Will's head and hips moving in the hurried rhythm they needed. 

Will anchored his feet to the bed, having leverage enough to push and ram up his hips to meet Hannibal in his movement, the air in their room suddenly not enough. He could feel the moment Hannibal started to stiffen, the contraction of his muscles, and the twitch of his hole that came before the ragged moan that punched out his gut with an orgasm that painted Will's chest with pearly white ribbons of come. 

Hannibal kept moving, riding out his pleasure and demanding Will's in return, his inner walls squeezing Will’s cock deliciously while he recited his love and devotion between whimpers. 

Will let his orgasm unravel, hips stuttering before quickening his pace until the last drop of come layed deep inside Hannibal's body. 

Hannibal fell over Will's chest, mouth hungry for a reassuring kiss, and they smiled, flushed, sweaty and sticky with come. 

They kept kissing until their breathing evened, bodies soft and pliant under the touch. The sun was shyly coloring the sky when Will’s phone rang. 

“Jack? I understand, the museum, yes, see you there.” Will said sternly, his left hand still running his fingers through the soft strands of Hannibal’s hair.

“It took them longer than I thought.” Hannibal murmured, raising his head from Will’s chest.

“Let's get ready, we have work to do.”

**

The scene showed a man, or what was left of a man, in the form of a hybrid of ancient death and fresh, deadly fangs piercing the skin of human lips. They protruded in a silent growl, a metal bar piercing him through his middle to keep the beast in the place he belonged. Will walked around the glass covering the display in measured steps, then closed his eyes to see what was behind the brutality of the beast, hearing it roar alive and walk beside him.

“We haven’t seen something like this before, Will.” Jack interrupted.

“We saw a totem made of preserved corpses, we saw angels, we saw a man turned into a musical instrument, Jack. This one is a display of a man turned into a beast, a design of his own, the true self of a predator by another, a mutual becoming.” Will said, looking at Jack through the glass covering Randall before glancing at Hannibal standing outside the perimeter, chest puffing with pride, a shade of a smile on his lips.

“There’s no signs of a premeditated crime. There’s just strength. A clash of strong bodies that left a defeated beast in an altar, like an offering.” Hannibal said joining them, passing under the police line, his eyes raking over the display, taking in the details the night hid so well.

“This is your killer, this is the beast that killed that couple two nights ago.”

“The wild animal.” Jack said, putting his hands in his pockets.

“There’s a better hunter out there Jack.” Will said, looking at Hannibal across their creation, a snarl tugging at his lips before turning to look at his boss.

“We will have to catch him, this hunter.” Jack announced, pointing a finger at the corpse. “We have to catch who did this.”

“Oh no, no no. This was our last case Jack. We talked about this. We are about to start our family and after what happened with Georgia, I’m not disposed to being followed home by work once again.”

“I will double the security. I will give you more time, Will.”

“No, Jack. I will keep teaching, and Hannibal will open his practice. I will give you my insight, but no more field work, no more killers inside my mind. This is over.”

Jack turned around and approached Hannibal, hands fluttering around and mouth quirked with anger.

“Dr. Lecter talk to Will, change his mind. He can save lives.” 

Hannibal raised his eyebrows, eyes blinking slowly before looking at Will over Jack’s shoulder. Hannibal let a breath out before stepping around the glass casket of their creation and raising the police line for Will to step out and leave without another word. It was over.

**  
The wedding day went just as planned under Hannibal’s perfect timing. The flowers were crisp and fresh, decorating the path around their house to the candle-adorned patio, their backyard conditioned for the evening that would seal the beginning of the Graham-Lecter’s. Flowers hung from every corner. Small white wildflowers highlighted the velvety, almost black-purple of the bouquets that matched the paisley tie Hannibal had selected for the occasion, his dark suit shining violet with silk-embroidered leaves in the dim light of the evening. Will wore a three-piece suit, the one that had been hanging for months inside their closet, blacks and blues highlighting the shine of his watery eyes at the sight of his groom. Hannibal steadied him with soft hand squeezes and nuzzling his face against his combed hair. 

The ceremony started right on time, every guest settled and waiting. It was more eyes than Will wanted to survive, but they were enough for the man that shone in front of him, like the best dinner party they ever had, the envy of the social circle. 

After the “I do’s” and a half-deepened kiss, white petals rained over them, Beverly and the lab team throwing them to the air while they walked down the path to the house to make their first toast as a legally married couple.

After the dinner they danced, a waltz they had practiced from before even thinking of marriage, young versions of themselves tripping over their feet and stepping on each other toes in the big salon of the Lecter’s house in Paris many summers ago. They’d giggled and learned how to lead in each other’s company, Nocturne Op nine guiding their steps. Now they enjoyed the feeling of each other in their hands, the lightness of their feet and the softness of their steps gliding around the dance floor which watched them giggle like the first time. 

After the piece finished the party moved inside the house, bites of delicious appetizers, also selected by Hannibal, being served with sweet and dry wines. In their living room, just in the middle of the new vitraux window, their wedding cake stood tall. It was red velvet and chocolate infused with whiskey, covered in a cascade of red wild berries that glistened under the light. The cake was cut after another toast, another bow to love and companionship as they remembered the silent nights of their teen years, and soon the evening was over.

Hannibal closed the door to the last of their guests leaving the house, the many flutes of brut covering his tongue and loosening his posture after hours of perfect steps and measured touches. Will looked at him leaning against the wall beside the stairs, a smile tugging at his lips, teeth showing and cheeks flushed with emotion and alcohol.

“We did it.” Will said, sliding down the wall to sit on the stairs, one finger tugging at his tie.

“Yes, after… twenty years.” Hannibal replied, sitting with him.

“It was worth the wait for my husband.” Will replied, tugging at Hannibal’s tie knot this time. 

**

The next evening they carried their suitcases across the airport that once saw them part and get together again. Everything was settled for a trip to Europe entirely planned by Hannibal. They would visit the places they’d been before, but most importantly they would visit the house that held Hannibal’s childhood in Lithuania.

“There’s someone I want you to meet.” Hannibal said on their way to the place that held both love and sorrow in his mind. 

Almost twenty-four hours later they found themselves opening the gates of the Lecter estate. They were received by the soft and measured smile of Chiyoh, a young woman that held Hannibal between her arms like a brother and gave Will a smile and an apology for not attending their wedding. 

Hannibal guided Will inside the cavernous rooms of the mansion, the place dusted and polished, warmed up by many fireplaces keeping it alive.

Hannibal walked with silent feet, not wanting to disturb the memories that plagued those rooms, smiling at the big painting that showed the familiar faces of the ones that were his parents and sister in the middle of the sitting room.

“I remember your face like that,” Will interrupted his thoughts. “The face that looked at me with fear when I jumped the fence.”

“You fell from it, what a gracious creature ended up being my husband.” A moment of silence passed between them as they examined the faces of those known strangers. “They would be so happy. Mama would have been so proud, and Mischa… Mischa would have loved you, enough to try to steal you.” Hannibal chuckled bittersweet.

Will kissed the hand he held in his, letting Hannibal steady his heart. He led Will to the room that would be theirs for the following nights, the master bedroom with blue walls and golden decorations, modern furniture breaking with the old decor.

As soon as the bedroom door closed behind them, the couple stumbled over the freshly made bed, kissing and tugging at each other’s clothes until laying bare, bodies rutting against each other, mouths hungrily taking the other’s lips. Hannibal finished darkening a fading bruise over the scar on Will’s shoulder, fangs scraping over the skin.

“We are going to be late for dinner.” Will rumbled the words, his breath hitching with Hannibal’s ministrations.

“Too bad the cook is busy.” 

Hannibal parted from Will and stood beside the bed, his beautiful, tall, naked form waiting for Will to follow him inside the ensuite bathroom, cock half hard between his legs, his lower lip caught between his teeth. Will went with him into the bathroom, a big room with white and gold walls and a big clawed-foot tub in the middle. Over it was a modern shower that rained perfectly from the ceiling. They went under the spray, kissing necks and leaving bites, hands spreading lather over their bodies to take off the smell of flights and transfers, their hands soon held to each other’s cocks, stroking their lengths while the water cleaned them.

Hannibal panted quickly, his cock twitching on Will’s hand. Will slicked his hair back and dropped to his knees, warm mouth enveloping the head of Hannibal’s cock while one hand held his balls.

“Dessert before dinner?” Hannibal smiled, air suddenly gone when Will took him completely inside his mouth.

Will let Hannibal thrust inside his mouth, his right hand stroking his own cock, making whimpers bubble from his throat which caused Hannibal to thrust quicker. His hands held Will’s head in place until he spilled with a ragged moan, soon followed by Will who kept kissing and licking at his cock through his own orgasm.  
They stepped out the shower and Hannibal patted Will dry with a warm towel, the fireplace of their room warming it enough to doze before dinner.

They rested and had dinner sitting inside the smaller space of the kitchen, the dark cured meat of pheasant being the main course with an aged bottle of wine. 

“The last time I was here was just before I went back to you, that last summer before medical school.” Hannibal said after finishing his first glass of wine. 

“We didn't see each other that summer. You were arranging everything to go back to Baltimore.”

“I came here chasing prey. The one who was still alive.” 

“You were hunting.” 

“I couldn't leave again without doing something for the memory of my family.” 

“Hannibal… Yo-You found him.” Will said almost breathless, the thrill of the thought shaking his limbs.

“I found him, but I could not see his fate through my tears, through my anger. So I left him here, captive and alive under Chiyoh's hand.” 

“Hannibal…”

“Will, I want you to meet him. Help me see.” Hannibal squeezed his hand across the kitchen table, thumb caressing the pink marks over his knuckles. “Our design.”

“Oh, Hannibal.” Will felt the tears roll down his cheeks, drying them with a hard hand before finishing the last third of his wine. He thought about how his throat had closed when Hannibal told him what had happened to his family, how his eyes had hurt after telling him how sorry he was, and how grateful he’d been that Hannibal felt he was deserving to know such an intimate and delicate passage of his life.

Will saw Hannibal dry his own tears and cork the wine before picking the bottle up by its neck.

Hannibal guided Will to the place the man was held captive. It was a cell made in a place meant to age wine and not a living being, a cell for a man that deserved less and less but was kept alive for a reason. Hannibal avoided looking at him, leaving Will to approach while he lit candles and torches placed on old barrels that would illuminate the place.

Will looked at the man, old and gaunt, a long beard covering part of his naked upper half, eyes trained on Will.

The man inside the cell jumped to the bars, making Will quickly step back while the prisoner sputtered words in that language that Will still couldn’t quite understand. The man clawed at the air trying to catch Will by his coat. Hannibal turned to look at him, a handful of words leaving his mouth and making him scream louder.

“What’s he saying?”

“The same he said to my parents, lies.” Hannibal tried to hide the bite in his words, his accent suddenly thick with rage.

“It’s such a pity his friends didn’t make it to our party.” Will uttered, taking the bottle of wine from Hannibal’s hand, one hand cupping his cheek before turning to the caged man.

Will found a cup laying on one of the barrels. He opened the bottle and poured some of the rich, dark liquid into it, then offered it to the man, who took it from his hands and drank it greedily. Will also handled him a piece of bread that laid nibbled by the rats, and it was snatched by hungry hands.

“Will…” Hannibal almost growled, his anger making him pace like a caged lion as he watched Will show a spark of kindness. The anger projected a shadow large and dark over his eyes, Will’s caring nature showing through even in the darkest moments of their lives, the same caring that had saved him from his childhood, the same that now gave him a spike of warm anger. 

Will looked at Hannibal with knowing eyes, his hands reaching for the lock and opening the gate for the caged man to charge against Hannibal. 

Hannibal held him with strength, both men’s hands holding the other’s, aiming to damage, aiming to kill. They thrashed around the room, hitting walls and barrels, wine bottles shattering on the ground before Hannibal kicked the man’s feet out from under him. He hit the ground and Hannibal pinned him to the same floors that had held him for the last twenty years. They rolled, the man having more brutal strength than they had anticipated, Hannibal’s fist’s landing with confident punches to the snarling man under his body.

Will was alert, watching from the cell’s door, hands holding the bars until his knuckles turned white. He watched Hannibal fight and enjoy the thrill of it, a deadly smile tugging at his wine-soaked face. His fangs flashed white under the candle light, hands and face tinted with the finest dark wine which, like blood, looked black under the moonlight. His bare skin showed under his torn shirt, shining from the few candles around them, making him look like a creature from the deep forest. Black, slick, slender and muscular arms constricted the windpipe of the bearded man, fingers piercing the meat with surgical precision to alternate between cutting either bloodstream or air, leaving the man switching between gasping for his life on the brink of death, and painful unconsciousness over and over. Every time he felt the heartbeat of the man flutter to a stop Hannibal would allow a gulp of air to see the man cry, to make him look at the monster reflecting in him.

Hannibal started to growl, putting pressure on the man harder, hearing him uselessly bat his hands against the floor. Will could see the man inside Hannibal starting to fade, the cup of humanity inside his husband starting to run out like the sand of a hourglass, the light of the candles casting a big shadow on the stone wall in the form of a monster that Will wasn’t going to let consume the heart of his man.

“Hannibal.” Will called, his voice echoing in the cellar.

Hannibal squeezed harder, his mouth turned into a grimace while his eyes welled with fresh tears that fell on the man. No candle in the cellar could bring light to the feelings he was battling alongside his fight with the dying man under his hands, the man whose throat he kept playing with in order to make him suffer, to make him die slowly like the beast inside him demanded.

Hannibal’s thoughts were interrupted by the blue shine of Will’s eyes crouching in front of him. His mouth moved with words he could not hear over the deafening whistle that rang in his ears, along with his galloping heartbeat. 

Will saw Hannibal’s eyes, his honeyed eyes looking dark with black pupils which consumed all the color. Will could not bear to lose him. So when Hannibal’s hands squeezed once again Will sliced the man’s throat above Hannibal’s blackened digits. Hannibal snarled at Will, the monster inside him raging about his prey being taken from his hands, his teeth parted and voice gone. Will let a shiver run down his spine, the beast that lived in Hannibal’s heart was enticing and frightening, a beast he had seen only purr and not snarl.

“Come back to me love. It is over.” Will whispered, letting the piece of glass drop to the floor. He reached for Hannibal’s face, skin splattered with the wine that was as old as him, like his own blood once again spilled on those floors after all these years.

Will caressed Hannibal’s face, hands running down his cheeks, neck and arms until he coaxed his tainted hands to hold his, to encourage him to breathe, to call him out of the deep place this creature lived in his mind. Hannibal couldn’t let out a word, suddenly returning to the kid that he’d been when they met, who didn’t talk for months.

“You were magnificent Hannibal, you were perfect, your family would be so proud my love, you finished him with your hands, you made him understand the sadness, you made him see your outstanding nature, I’m so proud my love, you did so good.” Will praised with a low voice. The ghost of Hannibal’s past felt too loud inside his head. Will petted Hannibal’s hair, eyes trying to look at his and make him come back, holding him to his chest, kissing his face and hair. His husband felt like hard corded muscle, rigid, tense and shaking.

Will let him rest on his shoulder for a minute. Hannibal’s nose buried in his neck and his hands clutched his coat. Will’s hands caressed over the wine-damp shirt that stuck to Hannibal’s back before helping him get on his feet.

Will slowly parted from Hannibal, wide maroon eyes looking at him with questions while he gathered ropes and branches from the fire pile. Will displayed all of his materials before starting to create, knitting the ropes and placing the glass, the display he had in mind paling in comparison of the beauty he would like to offer Hannibal.

Will finished tying the last support rope, his hands burning from the roughness, but a small smile tugged at his lips when Hannibal looked at his creation. Snails slid over the opened slit of the man’s throat, his hands begging for the mercy he had never had. Will held the rope and pulled, until the dragonfly shone with his wine bottle glass wings, the last stage of their growth. The imago of their minds was flying.

Will held Hannibal’s hand, standing far back from their creation, almost at the door of the cellar.

“Will.” Hannibal’s voice was back. He turned to look at Will with tears in his eyes.

“Do you like it?” Will asked, voice velvety in the dark.

“It’s beautiful.” Hannibal smiled and leaned on him, thier arms wrapping around each other in a tight embrace that was tied with a wine-tinged kiss.

They left and closed the cellar door behind them. That chapter of their entomology book was now over.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> TC


End file.
